Visit Marks Open Application Period for Payne Fellowship for International Development

On Monday October 15th, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah will visit Howard University where he will attend an event with Howard University President Dr. Sidney Ribeau, students and faculty to discuss how the university community can get involved with USAID and the opening of the USAID Donald M. Payne International Development Graduate Fellowship Program. The Payne Fellowship will seek to support individuals interested in creating a more secure, healthy and prosperous world through engagement in international development work and a career in USAID’s foreign service.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the City of Los Angeles today formalized a partnership to improve regional security and reduce gang violence in the Western Hemisphere. The Memorandum of Understanding between the two focuses on citizen security initiatives in Latin America and the Caribbean, the region with the highest homicide rate in the world, and benefits from the City of L.A.’s leadership combating gang violence and promoting youth development.

New Initiative Calls on University Students to offer creative ideas and solutions to prevent trafficking and provide assistance to victims and survivors worldwide

Today at Pepperdine University, United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Rajiv Shah announced the Campus Challenge to Counter Trafficking in Persons (CTIP) - a competition that seeks new and innovative ways to end modern slavery. Across three phases and through the website ChallengeSlavery.org, the CTIP Campus Challenge is designed to increase global awareness about trafficking, inspire activism among students and scholars at colleges and universities worldwide and generate new, creative ideas and solutions to stop human trafficking and help the 20.9 million people around the world are enslaved in sex or labor exploitation.

Today, the United States Agency for International Agency (USAID) recognized the first-ever International Day of the Girl Child through the announcement of several new initiatives to prevent child marriage and promote girls’ education worldwide. Last December, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution to declare October 11th as the International Day of the Girl Child. The day was established to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Humanity United announced Wednesday the launch of the Tech Challenge for Atrocity Prevention, in support of President Obama's strategy for preventing mass atrocities. The Tech Challenge for Atrocity Prevention encourages individuals from all backgrounds to bring new perspectives to the problems surrounding atrocity prevention. The emphasis on technology recognizes that innovative tools and solutions in many social sectors, such as global health, education, and the private sector could be transformative when applied to preventing atrocities.

Administrator Shah to visit Berkeley, and Los Angeles; Announce New Programs and Partnerships

From October 10th - 11th Dr. Rajiv Shah, Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), will travel to Berkeley, and Los Angeles California to announce innovative new development efforts and talk to university communities about how students and faculty can work with USAID to reduce poverty, create healthier communities and promote worldwide economic development.

The USAID LEAD (Leveraging Effective Application of Direct Investment for Haiti) program, in association with the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Professional Activities for Northern Haiti (CCIPN), selected four entrepreneurs as the winners of the Business Plan Competition. On Friday, September 14, the USAID LEAD (Leveraging Effective Application of Direct Investment for Haiti) Program, in association with the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Professional Activities for Northern Haiti (CCIPN), awarded four matching grants to businesses which are now expected to create a total of 442 long-term jobs.

Dr. Andrew Sisson was sworn-in today as the new U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission Director in Indonesia. US Ambassador Scot Marciel administered the oath at the US Embassy in Jakarta. “I look forward to working side-by-side with the Indonesian government, local leaders, the private sector, civil society, donors and other partners to help create opportunities for improving people’s lives,” said Dr. Sisson.

Omidyar Network, The Rockefeller Foundation, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced today a collaboration to promote impact investing by supporting research, outreach, and other field-building activities undertaken by the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN). Together the partners have committed $6.5 million to support the GIIN’s work to increase the accessibility of impact investing.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a new award today that will help communities in the Central Africa Republic (CAR) reduce their vulnerability to violence from the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The Secure, Empowered, Connected Communities (SECC) program will support communities to develop and implement security plans and reduce their isolation and vulnerability through communications technology and skills building. The three-year award advances community-driven solutions to complex and enduring problems. The program will be implemented by Catholic Relief Services.

Today, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Acumen Fund, a nonprofit global venture fund addressing poverty across Africa and South Asia, announced a collaboration to facilitate the flow of up to $15 million in private debt capital to social enterprises working to provide critical goods and services to the underserved across these regions. Under this agreement, USAID’s Development Credit Authority will partially guarantee loans made from banks or nontraditional capital providers to approved social enterprises within Acumen’s portfolio. Acumen will leverage its investment expertise and global networks to aid its investees in sourcing and securing loans that will qualify under the terms of this agreement.

A new partnership announced today at the United Nations will make a safe, effective, long-acting, reversible method of contraception available to more than 27 million women in the world's poorest nations.

The new partnership is a joint effort of the Clinton Health Access Initiative, the Governments of Norway, the United Kingdom, the US and Sweden, The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, other groups and the German pharmaceutical firm Bayer HealthCare AG, which is the manufacturer of the contraceptive device.

The United States Government, along with other G8 members, hosted a side event today at the United Nations General Assembly in New York to announce that Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire and Mozambique have joined the G8’s New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition. In addition, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah announced that 21 additional private sector companies, most of them African companies, have signed letters of intent, committing themselves to invest an additional $500 million in African agriculture.

USAID, together with development partners around the world, is making significant strides in achieving the ambitious goals set to meet the needs of the poor by 2015 by the Millennium Development Challenge under the United Nations. USAID and its British counterpart UK Department for International Development (DFID) hosted an event on Wednesday, Sept. 26 in New York, NY during the UN General Assembly (UNGA), that celebrated their joint work aimed at meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

Today, as the United Nations General Assembly is underway, the Rockefeller Foundation, USAID, and the United Nations Foundation hosted a high level event highlighting the new international commitment to building resilience for vulnerable communities. Rockefeller Foundation President Dr. Judith Rodin and USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah welcomed expert speakers including Valerie Amos, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator; Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director, World Food Programme; and Heikki Holmås, Minister of International Development of Norway. Two panels featured rich discussion of key alliances and innovations newly enabling relief and development actors to come together to build resilience and help sustain development gains.

U.S. Agency for International Development Chief Innovation Officer and Senior Counselor Maura O’Neill, Qtel Group CEO Dr. Nasser Marafih, Australian Agency for International Development Assistant Director General Jenny Da Rin and GSMA Development Fund Managing Director Chris Locke today announced the launch of the GSMA mWomen Design Challenge: Redefining the User Experience at this year’s Social Good Summit in New York. The GSMA mWomen Design Challenge is seeking to engage the global digital design community for solutions that will make the smartphone user experience more intuitive, particularly for women in developing countries who, because of lack of opportunity, struggle with technical literacy.

From September 23-27, USAID Administrator Raj Shah and other Agency leaders will participate in several events taking place during and around the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Dr. Rajiv Shah, Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), announced today the launch of Women and Girls Lead Global, a public-private partnership between USAID, the Ford Foundation, and the Independent Television Service (ITVS), working in collaboration with CARE. The partnership is a 3-year, 9-country, 30-film media project to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment worldwide, creating a 10-episode documentary film series each year about women and girls rising above dire circumstances to seek better lives for themselves, their families, and communities.

The U.S. Agency for International Development welcomes the approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of final rules implementing Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Section 1504, the Cardin-Lugar rule, sets a new standard for transparency in the extractive industries. Under the rules issued by the SEC, oil, natural gas, and mining companies who are required to file annual reports with the SEC will have to disclose certain payments they make to governments for resource development on a project-by-project basis.

Administrator Rajiv Shah will host an event Wednesday, Sept. 26, highlighting the progress USAID is making with international partners toward meeting the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDG). USAID is co-hosting the event with its British counterpart, the Department for International Development (DFID), to highlight the role the two agencies play in meeting global MDG targets.